The courage to be sacredly unapologetic

Like peeling layers to get closer to the core, every successful person has to learn the art of becoming more and more sacredly unapologetic.

The courage to be sacredly unapologetic is in knowing that even when people, perhaps even people you love, feel blecch about your choices, you’re still going to choose to be grounded in them–without apology.

What it is, what it’s not

To live in a space of being sacredly unapologetic, is this: you know what your priorities are, and the highest among them is to make choices that feel good.

That means:

• You don’t hang out with people who don’t bring out that feeling within you. You don’t make obligatory phone calls to those people. You don’t opt to spend holidays with them. You don’t pretend not to notice when they’re rude or unkind.

• You desire connection, so you do wish to practice compassion, forgiveness, and all the other pieces that go along with messy human relationships.

• You ask for what you need in group settings.

• You have clear boundaries and you throw down on them when someone blows past them.

• You’ll only work with service providers who are impeccable, who deliver.

• You go after what you most desire.

• You price your work in alignment with its value, and you give, because giving feels good.

It doesn’t mean:

• That you write people off with a big “fuck you.” That’s a huuuuuge misconception about what it means to live powerfully, and it’s a prime example of the abuse and mis-use of self-help.

• That your needs and preferences trump everyone else’s. They don’t.

• That you aren’t open to negotiating (some people see negotiating as a form of backtracking on their desires for self-care, like if they compromise anything then it’s all out the window).

• That you do it all for the money.

• That service providers are your servants.

• That you put other people’s lives or standards of living at risk in the pursuit of your own goals. For example, if you leave your job so that you can pursue a career that lights you up, awesome, but someone who has kids has an ethical responsibility to find a way to do that while still putting a roof over their heads.

Being simply “unapologetic” often translates to steamrolling right over people and only looking out for Numero Uno.

Being “sacredly unapologetic” is about being in the fine glow of connection, with your choices supporting more connection–connection to yourself, to others, to what you’re up to in the world.

The Backlash

People who don’t practice being sacredly unapologetic in their own lives haaaaate it when others do.

They’ll tell you that you’re too picky, too precious, too sensitive, that you think too highly of yourself, that you’re narcissistic, that your prices are too high, that you expect everyone else to bend over backwards, that your work isn’t worthy, that you’re selfish.

I spent years of my life fearing being called “selfish.” Then I figured out that a.) I was being called selfish even at times when I’d tried really hard to be accommodating, and b.) I was being called selfish as a maneuver, when someone else wanted me to do things their way.

(So there’s a clue.)

What’s hard about being sacredly unapologetic is the backlash. You’ll have a day where you’ll price your services higher and in will roll an email from someone who asks how you dare to charge what you charge. You’ll decide to opt out on a family gathering and then suddenly this throws a big, shiny light on the fact that the relationship is strained.

The first few times this happens, it’s going to feel ridiculously awkward and painful, the slow peeling off of a band-aid that you’ve been clinging to, to avoid just this very feeling.

You breathe your way through, until you realize that the worst of it is over. It never feels quite as bad to be criticized as it does that first, shocking time.

You stand in your courage, your shaky tenderness. You understand that prolonging the moment when you’ve gotta pull off that metaphorical band-aid does not actually make the pain any better when inevitably, it’s gotta be done.

The Bridge

When you get more practiced with this, something pretty amazing happens: you look around at your life and realize that a helluva lot is going the way you’d always hoped it would.

You might have fewer super-close friendships, but those that you do have, are all quality–they’re people who respect your “yes” and your “no” without questioning your character.

You’re making the kind of money you always wanted to make, doing the kind of work that you always wanted to do.

Your wardrobe looks and feels like “you.”

You feel an expanded capacity to give something back, to be part of the worldwide community, to be a healer.

You have less resistance to your personal commitments–you don’t bail on meditation, or that daily walk you said you were going to start, or making time for art each day, or eating in ways that nourish your body.

Most importantly, you get it–you get unapologetic because you understand that this is the one lifetime that you’re consciously aware of. There are no do-overs for any particular year. You want to make them count.

When you are sacredly unapologetic, you are refusing to apologize for making choices that enliven you–because you are here, and you are here to truly live.